ITALY: The Mafia has emerged in recent days as one of the most pressing political problems facing the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi.
The arrest over the weekend of a Sicilian member of his Forza Italia party has raised embarrassing questions about the collusion between Cosa Nostra and politics - one of the secrets of the criminal organisation's remarkable success.
Dr Giuseppe Nobile (52), a representative of Forza Italia in the Agrigento provincial government, was arrested on Sunday as he attended an alleged summit of Mafia bosses at a remote farmhouse in western Sicily. The 15 alleged Mafiosi were participating in what they themselves described as a "debate", a meeting to elect the Mafia's own provincial governor. Biscuits and a bottle or champagne were waiting on the table to celebrate the - interrupted - result.
Investigators hailed the arrests as a historic success in the battle against organised crime.
They had managed to catch a large number of suspects red-handed despite the hostile atmosphere prevailing in western Sicily. Police made the arrests after intercepting phone calls, secretly filming preparatory meetings and tracking the participants' cars using satellite surveillance technology.
Mr Nobile had been investigated previously on suspicion of Mafia membership after a 12-year- old boy was accidentally killed in a shoot-out in his home town of Favara. He was acquitted despite evidence from a supergrass who said Mr Nobile had been identified to him as a "man of honour" by one of the local bosses.
"Nobile is a doctor, he's not a shooter, but he was enrolled in the organisation because it's always useful to have a doctor," Mr Pasquale Salemi told investigators.
Mr Nobile's arrest is highly embarrassing for the prime minister. It comes on top of damaging allegations emerging in Palermo at the trial of one of Mr Berlusconi's closest aides.
Mr Marcello Dell'Utri, a founder of Forza Italia and business associate of the prime minister, is accused of aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra. Prosecutors say they intend to call a witness who alleges that Mr Dell'Utri had been in contact with one of the Mafia's top bosses a decade ago and had held a secret meeting in his lawyer's office last year in an attempt to convince potential witnesses to give false evidence on his behalf.
Mr Berlusconi is due to give evidence at the trial in October, when he is expected to be asked about the original funding of his Fininvest company and his relations with a Mafia boss who briefly worked as a stable-hand on his Arcore estate.
Imprisoned Mafia bosses have also grabbed the prime minister's attention by rattling their bars and refusing food in a protest over conditions reserved for them in prison. Mr Leoluca Bagarella, a boss accused of more than 300 murders, caused alarm when he accused politicians of having broken promises made to the organisation during a video link to one of his trials.